Out Of The Shadows
by Raisa
Summary: Calleigh has the worst day you can imagine. Eventual EC. warning contains mentions of rape. Reposted because it somehow got deleted. Reviews are appreciated along with constructive criticism :
1. A Bad Day

Disclaimer: I don't own CSI:Miami, or the characters, I'm just borrowing them for a little while :P

Ch.1- A Bad Day.

The bright summer sun had already set as Calleigh Duquesne left the CSI building. She hadn't realised it was this late. Sighing she unlocked her car and slid into the driver's seat. She sat backed and enjoyed the silence. Today had started off bad and had gotten progressively worse; she'd spilt coffee down her shirt and then was late to court, the drug dealer she had testified against had been found not guilty, despite the overwhelming ballistics evidence linking him to a murder and to top it off the body of an 8 year old girl had been found sexually assaulted and shot 4 times. She had wanted to stay late and start processing the evidence but Horatio had made her go home.

"You're tired, go home. Look at it with fresh eyes tomorrow," he'd said.

She smiled and shook her head because he would still be there following up on any possible leads. No one to tell him to go home. She started up the engine when someone knocked on her window. Green eyes met brown as she wound the window down.

"Hey Eric," she said, smiling up at the man who gave her chills every time he spoke.

"I'm sorry about your case today, with that evidence he should have been put away for life," he said apologetically.

Calleigh shrugged her shoulders, "You win some, you lose some right?" she gave a slight chuckle, her best defense mechanism, to show people she was okay.

Eric thought for a moment, not knowing how to reply to what Calleigh had said.

"Do you wanna go grab a coffee, or something stronger?" he asked, adding a smile at the end.

Opening her mouth to say yes, Calleigh stopped herself, "Actually Eric, um, I'm tired and I gotta get in early tomorrow to start processing the evidence on the Jaynie Patton case. Rain check?"

A slight look of disappointment flashed across his face, too quick for Calleigh to notice in the dark.

"Yeah sure, another time," he flashed another of his smiles that almost made Calleigh change her mind.

"Night Eric,"

"Night Calleigh, see you tomorrow," he replied to the blonde, waving as she pulled out of the parking lot. One of these days, he thought to himself, he would tell her exactly how he felt about her.

Driving home, Calleigh glanced at the clock. It was 9:47pm and she realised that she could get home, have a shower and watch a trashy made for TV movie before she went to bed:- the perfect remedy to a bad day. She felt slightly happier as she sang along to a song she knew the words to but not the title and didn't even care that every stop light she came to turned red. As she parked her car and crossed the street to her apartment she shivered as the evening breeze hit her. She looked up and frowned when she saw her top bathroom window was open; shaking her head and deciding she had left it open accidentally in her rush that morning, she opened the front door and made her way up to her apartment.

Calleigh kicked off her shoes as she walked in, at the same time pressing the button on her answering machine. There was only one message- from her dentist reminding her that it had been more then 6 months since her last appointment. The thought of going made her inwardly shiver as she had never liked dentists but she made a note in her diary to make an appointment anyway. She made her way through the open plan living room/kitchen into the master bedroom and quickly undressed, slipping into a fluffy bathrobe. She left the bathroom window open as she figured it would just get steamed up again anyway. The sound of water splashing against the shower screen filled the room as Calleigh pulled the bathroom door closed. After checking the temperature of the water she stepped in, letting the hot water envelope her body, relaxing her tired muscles and clearing her mind. So lost in her own thoughts, Calleigh did not realise the bathroom door being pushed open slightly, instead threw her head back under the shower spray. Only when she reached for a shampoo bottle, did she notice the figure half standing in the doorway. As soon as she moved to open the shower screen the figure moved. Calleigh jumped out of the shower, the water still running, grabbed a towel to wrap around herself and followed the figure out. Quickly scanning the bedroom she realised that they were not in there. She looked for her gun, searching through the pile of clothes she had left on her bed just 10 minutes earlier.

"Looking for this?" a deep voice asked from behind her.

She turned to find a man standing in her bedroom holding her weapon, her ID and her cell phone. She froze to the spot momentarily, unable to speak.

"I asked you a question…" he paused as he looked at her ID, "Calleigh Duquesne," he added narrowing his eyes. "Is that southern?" he asked mockingly, obviously enjoying the current power he had over the blonde.

"What do you want?" Calleigh asked, suddenly finding her voice.

"Well what do you think I want Calleigh, why else would I break into your apartment?"

She shuddered at his use of her name, and what he implied. "I don't know what you want but you should leave, now." She replied, making her voice as strong as she could.

"Or what, you'll call your cop friends? Have them arrest me?" the man laughed to himself, "Call them after, they won't catch me," he smiled at Calleigh, making her stomach lurch with fear.

Sensing that talking to the man was not getting her anywhere she tried to make a run for it. It was a feeble attempt to escape but the only thing she could do.

"Oh no you don't," the man threatened, pointing the gun at Calleigh, "you're not going anywhere,"

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	2. In The Dark Of Night

Disclaimer: Don't own them, wish I did :P . Poor Calleigh :( I'm so mean lol.)

Ch.2- In the Dark of Night.

"Oh no you don't," the man threatened, pointing the gun at Calleigh, "you're not going anywhere,"

Calleigh stopped dead, staring at her own gun being aimed at her.

"So you're feisty," he stated, "I can deal with feisty," he gave her a menacing grin, "Although, I'd prefer not to use this," he said, motioning the gun, "Far too messy, what do you think?"

"I think, you're getting yourself into a lot of trouble," Calleigh replied, keeping direct eye contact with the man. This seemed to unnerve him and in the split second he moved his eyes away from hers, Calleigh ran straight at him, knocking the gun out of his hand. However she did not realise how strong he was and he stood still as stone as she fell to the floor in front of him. She reached for her gun but he kicked it away.

"No need for that, Calleigh," he taunted, forcing her to stand by pulling her still wet hair. Standing up close to him she realised he was at least 8 inches taller than her. A wave of terror washed over her as she realised that she had no way of getting out of this.

"Please, just go," she pleaded, her eyes growing wide.

The man seemed pleased with himself, and put his hand on Calleigh's cheek. "You're

so beautiful when you're frightened Calleigh," he remarked, pleased with the effect

his continual use of her name was having. A single tear rolled down her cheek and the man went to lick it off. She pulled away and opened her mouth to scream but he was too fast, he grabbed her and put his hand over her mouth, muffling any sound she tried to make. He picked her up with little effort and carried her to the living room. He threw her down so hard he heard her ribs crack and climbed on top of her. Even with his hand still over her mouth, Calleigh tried to get away, she kicked him and scratched his arms but he just stared down at her, laughing. One of his hands pinned both of hers above her head, the other hand was clamped on her mouth. In a practised move he quickly reached into his pocket and pulled out a large piece of cloth, which he forced into Calleigh's mouth. Once again she forced against him, his strength ultimately overwhelming her again.

Now he had a hand free he let it roam over Calleigh's body, pulling off the flimsy towel that had covered her. She closed her eyes in response; there was nothing more she could do.

"Open your eyes Calleigh, you have such beautiful eyes," he said sweetly, in a voice betraying what he was doing to her. She whimpered as he sank his teeth into her shoulder. She managed to elbow him in the above his eye as he brought his head up. He recoiled in surprise.

"YOU BITCH!" he shouted, slapping her hard across the cheek. He grabbed her wrists painfully tight and took off his belt. He wrapped it a few times around his hand to make it shorter. He turned Calleigh over and used the belt as a whip, lashing into her back until deep red welts formed. Calleigh, who had initially fought against this new abuse on her body, had got increasingly quiet with each mark he made, so he decided that was enough, he dropped the belt. He wanted her conscious. She was barely awake when he turned her over, but still awake enough for him. Noting her shallow breathing he took the cloth out from her mouth, and just as he thought, she was soon fully conscious, except the fight in her eyes had disappeared, replaced with fear. She looked away as she heard him undo the zipper on his pants. She made one last attempt to pull away as he began to force himself inside her. He retaliated by punching her twice in the stomach, taking her breath away and forcing her to stay still. She flinched at every painful thrust he made, each one causing an excruciating deep pain she had never felt before.

"You are so beautiful," he told her, as he reached his climax and pulled out of her. Doing his zipper up he patted Calleigh on the head, then punched her, knocking her out cold. He made his way to the door, knowing he had time before she woke up. Not even bothering to close the door properly he walked out, his own semen mixed with Calleigh's blood staining the front of his trousers.

Calleigh woke with a throbbing pain in her head. As she opened her eyes she realised she was staring at the ceiling. However it was when she tried to sit up that she remembered what had happened. The shooting pains in her ribs and deep in her stomach brought it all straight back. She managed to pull herself up into a sitting position. Breathing heavily she scanned the living room and couldn't see her attacker. She couldn't hear him in the bedroom either. The front door was slightly ajar which indicated he was probably gone. She was two feet away from the phone and managed to pull herself across the floor to it. Exhausted from the effort she leaned against the sofa, shaking. There was not doubt in Calleigh's mind that she needed medical attention, but she knew she couldn't face going to hospital, she didn't want anyone touching her, or seeing her as she was. Trying to move again, Calleigh cried out from the pain. She picked up the phone and slowly dialled a number, and had to restart twice as her shaking hands caused her to press the wrong buttons. The phone rung only twice before someone picked up.

"Hello,"

"A-Alexx?" Calleigh asked in a trembling voice.

"Calleigh? Is that you?" Alexx replied, concerned.

Calleigh let out a small sob before continuing. "Can you help me?" she asked in a quiet, childlike voice.

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	3. Broken

I'm hoping it will eventually be E/C, (well that's my intention :D) hope you like the next chapter...

Ch.3-Broken.

Calleigh let out a small sob before continuing. "Can you help me?" she asked in a quiet, childlike voice.

"Calleigh, honey, what's wrong?" Alexx questioned, worried by the tone of her friend's voice.

Calleigh tried but couldn't explain over the phone, instead she just said weakly, "Come over please," before putting the phone down.

Alexx glanced at the clock, it was nearly 12 in the morning, and for Calleigh to call her that late obviously meant something was wrong, and that, coupled with the pleading for help made Alexx incredibly worried. She thought briefly about calling Horatio but decided against it, after all if Calleigh had wanted him; she would have called him herself.

She was dressed and out of the door in less than 10 minutes and a drive which usually took Alexx half an hour took 15 minutes, to get to Calleigh's apartment. After she parked she quickly made her way up to number 17. Her hurried walked turned into a run when she saw Calleigh's front door was open. Stepping into the apartment she saw Calleigh, bruised, naked and bleeding, gently rocking back and forth with her knees pulled right up to her chest.

"Oh my God," Alexx whispered to herself. Gently closing the door, she walked over to her friend.

"Calleigh," she said softly, not wanting to startle her.

Calleigh's head shot up at the sound of her name, her eyes wide with terror, her lips trembling as she shivered.

"Baby, it's okay," Alexx soothed, "I'm not going to hurt you."

When she got not answer Alexx knelt down next to her friend and got a better look at the injuries Calleigh had suffered. The deep welts on her back made Alexx wince herself, and it was all she could do to stop herself pulling Calleigh into a hug. As well as potentially compromising any evidence, she had no doubt in her mind that Calleigh probably couldn't bear that much physical contact. She pulled the red fleece from the sofa and warpped it around Calleigh's shoulders, and knelt down next to her.

"Calleigh, you need to go to the hospital," Alexx said, pulling out her cellphone to call for an ambulance.

"No," Calleigh spoke for the first time since Alexx had arrived, turning her head away, pulling the blanket tighter round her shoulders.

"Calleigh."

"No hospital, please, I can't, I can't go, I can't have all those strangers looking at me, touching me, Alexx, please," Calleigh's voice was so desperate it brought Alexx to the brink of tears.

"Honey, you need…" Alexx started, trying to reason with her

"You do it. I trust you," Calleigh interrupted in a tiny voice, "I trust you."

"Okay," Alexx said, giving into Calleigh's pleas. Physically she would probably be better off in a hospital, but mentally, Alexx decided, she probably wasn't up to it. She had the capacity to deal with Calleigh's injuries, but that meant moving her first and she seemed pretty rooted to the spot.

"Calleigh I'm gonna get you some clothes, then we have to go to the lab okay?" she asked softly.

Calleigh merely nodded; relieved she wasn't going to the hospital.

Walking into the master bedroom, Alexx noticed the shower was still running. A small pool of water had appeared where the water had sprayed over the edge. She reached in and turned the shower off and careful not to touch anything else, she went back into the bedroom. She saw Calleigh's gun on the far side of the room but again didn't touch it. She quickly found some loose cotton pants and a long sleeved top that was soft enough to not irritate her back. She also took the opportunity to quickly call Horatio and inform him of the situation. He had insisted Calleigh go to hospital but Alexx stood her ground and told him she was taking care of her.

"I'll call Eric and Ryan, we need to start processing the scene," he said, urgently down the phone

"Don't rush over Horatio, she's scared enough as it is, I'll give you a call when we've left, then come over." Alexx explained.

"Okay," Horatio agreed, "You'll need to get the evidence from Calleigh," he said gently.

"I know, I'll do as much as I can, I'll call you soon,"

"Bye," Horatio ended the call then smashed the phone onto the table; his number one priority now was to get the bastard who hurt Calleigh.

"Alexx," Calleigh called weakly from the living room

"I'm here Calleigh," Alexx replied, walking out with the clothes she had got out.

"I-I thought you left," Calleigh said, her voice wobbly with unshed tears.

"I didn't leave you baby, I called Horatio," Alexx explained, sitting down next to Calleigh.

"No, no,no, they can't be here, not like this," Calleigh cried out shaking her head violently.

"There is evidence here Calleigh, it needs to be processed so we can catch whoever did this to you. The boys aren't coming while you're here, you don't have to worry okay?"

"Okay," Calleigh agreed. She shivered, her hair was still slightly damp and she was cold. "I'm cold," she said to Alexx.

"Let's get you dressed," Alexx said, holding the clothes for Calleigh.

Calleigh at first refused help to dress but so far had got nowhere, the pain from moving and trying to get into the shirt was too much, yet she still flinched away from Alexx, "Calleigh, you said you trust me," she reasoned.

Calleigh nodded, but didn't make eye contact.

"Then let me help you sweetheart," she said pulling the shirt gently over Calleigh's head, careful not to hurt her bruised cheek. It took 10 minutes for Alexx to help her get dressed. Alexx then helped Calleigh lean on her, so they could walk to the door. The blonde winced with every step she took, biting her lip to stop herself crying out in pain. They were almost at the door when the sound of Alexx's cellphone ringing made them both jump.

"It's my phone, it's just the phone," Alexx reassured her friend, flipping it up to see that Horatio was calling.

"Hello," Alexx answered, continuing to walk slowly with Calleigh to the door.

"Alexx, we're downstairs, questioning the neighbours," he said

"Horatio, I told you not to c…" Alexx started to say

"You try keeping those boys away, she's practically family Alexx," he cut in, "It was all I could do to stop them coming straight up,"

Alexx stopped just short of the door, "Horatio they do understand that she probably can't handle that now," she warned, lowering her voice in an attempt to keep Calleigh from hearing it, "She trusts me right now, and I promised that I wouldn't let you see her like this, I can't afford to go back on my word," she explained.

"I understand," Horatio replied, "I'll call you later," he went to put then phone down, "Take care of her Alexx," he added before ending the call.

"I've got 3 neighbours confirming there was a loud bang from one of the upstairs apartments," Eric said to Horatio, reading off his notepad, "but no one heard anything else,"

It was obvious to Horatio that Eric was having a hard time dealing with the news that Calleigh had been attacked. He was frowning and grinding his teeth, frustrated that there was nothing else he could do.

"How badly is she hurt?" Eric asked, putting his notepad away and picking up his kit, ready to process the scene.

"She's badly beaten up, but she conscious and talking. That's all I know," Horatio replied.

"Horatio, was she…" Eric started, unable to say the word in relation to Calleigh.

The lieutenant debated whether or not to tell Eric what Alexx believed had happened, but decided it was probably best to let him know, "Alexx said there were some signs that she had been sexually assaulted," Horatio told him, not able to meet Eric's eyes.

"No, not Calleigh," Eric said softly to himself, shaking his head, "DAMN IT!" he shouted, dropping his kit on the floor. He turned around when he heard a scream to see Calleigh sinking to the floor with her hands over her ears and her eyes squeezed shut, his voice had been the first male voice she had heard since she was attacked, and when he'd shouted, he'd completely terrified her.

Alexx, who had been unable to catch Calleigh as she dropped to the floor, knelt down next to her friend.

"Calleigh, that was Eric, he didn't mean to scare you," she explained as the blonde took her hands down, although her eyes were still shut.

"Look at me honey, it's okay, they're not going to hurt you," Calleigh opened her eyes slowly, and looked around wide eyed to see the guys and the small group of neighbours who had gathered to watch all looking at her. In a split second she brought her eyes up to meet Erics, then blinked and turned away again. Eric stepped forward and then froze, he had never in the whole time he'd known her, seen Calliegh look so utterly broken.

"Go, I need to go," she told Alexx, her breathing coming in short sharp gasps.

Alexx slowly helped Calleigh to her feet; the impact of the ground had only made the pain worse They slowly made their way to Alexx's car, Calleigh had her head down, refusing to look at anyone. Eric had stayed exactly where he was, aware that he was to blame for scaring Calleigh.

"Calleigh," he called out gently, he wasn't sure if she had heard, but she ignored him, "I'm sorry," he said, "I'm sorry."

"That wasn't your fault man," Ryan said, putting a hand on his Eric's shoulder.

"Yeah, it was." Eric replied, watching Alexx's car drive away.

"We need to process the scene," Horatio simply stated, turning towards the building. Eric and Ryan picked up their kits and followed the lieutenant inside.

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	4. Disturbed Innocence

Enjoy the next chapter, the next one should be up soon :)

Ch.4- Disturbed Innocence

Calleigh's 2nd floor apartment was at the end of the corridor, which made it easy for Horatio to seal off the area without irritating her neighbours; not that he really cared if they were irritated or not at this particular moment in time. Ryan and Eric arrived with a uniformed cop who was to stand guard at the tape. Horatio let Eric and Ryan through before sealing the area. They stepped inside, each one pausing briefly, remembering what had happened there.

"Looks like most of the attack took place here," Horatio stated, pointing to the bloodstained rug on the floor, and noticing that nothing was really out of place he added, "There are no real signs of a struggle in here." It hurt him to say that, as it implied that Calleigh hadn't fought her attacker, he knew that she had of course, no way would she have let this happen without a fight. He lost concentration momentarily and there was an awkward silence in the room.

"Shall we get started?" Ryan asked, noticing that both Horatio and Eric seemed lost in their own thoughts, and wondered if they were the right people to be investigating this case. He thought for a moment that he had been rude in interrupting them, but the best was for them to help Calleigh now would be to collect as much evidence as they could to find the bastard.

"Yeah," Eric said, coming back from his daze, "I'll start with the bedroom," he picked up his kit and his camera and walked carefully past the rug, purposely not looking at it. Horatio soon followed after him. Ryan resigned himself to the fact that he would be processing the living room alone, at least for now. Not that he minded.

Eric sensed that someone had followed him into Calleigh's bedroom; he turned round to see Horatio had followed him.

"Eric," he started, his eyes sympathetic, "That really wasn't your fault,"

"Did you see her face H? She wouldn't even look at me!" Eric struggled to keep his voice down.

"She's confused and scared, she didn't want to look at anyone," Horatio tried to reason with him, knowing that it wouldn't work.

"And I made it worse," Eric, "I scared her," he added, his voice low and flat.

"Calleigh knows you'd never hurt her Eric," Horatio stated, hoping it would make him feel just a little better.

Eric gave a slight nod, and turned back around, walking around the bed to start collecting the evidence. He didn't want to think about it anymore, it hurt too much. "There are signs of a struggle in here," Eric said, trying to act professionally as if the case wasn't hurting him. He took a picture of the clothes strewn across the floor and bed.

"That's Calleigh's gun," Horatio noticed. He let Eric snap a photo before he picked it up. "It wasn't used," he determined, before bagging it. When the evidence from the bedroom had been documented, they both moved to the bathroom, Horatio stayed by the doorway, to give Eric space to work.

"Looks like the shower was still running when he attacked her," Eric said out loud, noting the big puddle of water by the tub, snapping a few pictures. "Alexx must have turned it off," he determined, still trying to act like he wasn't personally involved with the case, "It would have flooded the bathroom if she hadn't,"

"I'll confirm that when I talk to her later," Horatio replied, walking into the bathroom to join Eric.

Ryan had found several hairs that he knew didn't belong to Calleigh; they were short and dark brown. He took some swabs of the blood on the rug; there was enough on there to make it look like a pattern had been dyed in the center. He then snapped a few pictures of the rug and the damp blood stained pink towel lying to the right of it. He'd also found pubic hairs on the carpet by the rug. He sighed, and got up to switch the light off. Turning on the UV light, he slipped the goggles on and focused the beam on the rug. Several semen stains glowed in the blue light and Ryan fought a wave of nausea. He swabbed the stains then switched the light back on and placed the towel and rug into plastic bags.

"There's lot's of prints here," Eric remarked, dusting powder onto the window frame and lifting off the prints carefully. "I don't think he got in through the window," he said, looking at the window that was obviously too small for a man to fit through, "Unless," he said, looking at the larger window below, "He reached in and opened the bigger window," he got out his camera and took a picture.

"That's possible," Horatio agreed, "Although, it would have been hard for him to get up to that window and get in without being seen," The window was on the front of the building and could clearly be seen from the street below.

"The door wasn't forced," Eric said, remembering the door had looked perfectly fine when he'd walked past it.

"Maybe he picked the lock," Horatio said walking out to further inspect the door, leaving Eric to finish up in the bathroom.

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Calleigh had calmed down after the incident outside her apartment block during the ride to the lab but had kept her eyes fixed looking out of the passenger side window. She had shifted again and again uncomfortably as the shirt, soft as it was, still managed to rub the wounds on her back. The whole attack was still hazy, and only when she had felt the pain from her injuries did it feel real.

Now she was sitting in Alexx's office, the same fleecy blanket wrapped around her shoulders. She shivered involuntarily. She'd said that she would be okay for 5 minutes while Alexx fixed up somewhere to treat her, but regretted the decision almost immediately. She'd only ever been this scared once before in her whole life and she didn't want to be alone this time. Struggling through the pain she slowly stood up, wincing as she pulled on her bruised ribs. She walked carefully out of the office and went to find Alexx.

She came to the end of the corridor and could hear Alexx moving things around in the room next to her. She turned to go in, but then stopped and looked the other way. Through the glass panel she could see small shrouded body on a gurney. She pushed on the door and was surprised to see it opened. She made her way over to the body and uncovered the head. It was Jayney Patton, the girl who had been brought in earlier. An ugly bruise marred her otherwise unmarked skin and the first of the gunshot wounds was visible on her right shoulder. Calleigh pushed back a wave of tears that were threatening to fall and placed her hand gently on the girl's forehead. She gasped at the coldness and shivered again.

Alexx put another couple of towels on the table she had tried to make as comfortable for Calleigh as she could. She sighed; it was still unmistakably an autopsy table. She walked out of the room and was startled to see Calleigh standing in the opposite room. She pushed the door open gently, "Calleigh," she started.

"I didn't want to be alone," the blonde simply replied, keeping her eyes on the girls' body.

"Honey it's too cold in here, come on," Alexx said softly

"She was an innocent little girl Alexx, how could he do that? How?" she turned and looked at her friend with pleading eyes, knowing that she could not answer her question. Alexx shook her head sympathetically, Calleigh was an innocent victim too.

"Calleigh," Alexx placed a hand lightly on Calleigh's shoulder.

"Okay," she replied, gently recovering the girls' face and following Alexx slowly into the next room.

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It's maybe a little slow? I'm sorry about that, I'll be picking up the pace soon :)


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